Tips to keep exercising even on the coldest days

By Sophia McDermott, Lifestyle Coach & Fitness Expert. 

As temperatures drop and the Winter season comes, that desire to stay under the covers, watch a movie and eat calorie-loaded comfort foods gets stronger and stronger. Oh, how good would it be to stay in bed and NOT battle the cold? But if we did this throughout Winter, we’d all be out of shape, untoned, and unfit. AND believed it on not, we’d all be depressed. The benefits of exercises have as much impact on the mind as it does on the body. 

But, the chill cannot be an excuse not to exercise, on the contrary, maintaining the practice of physical exercises, hail, rain, or shine is important. But even better, working out on the coldest of days can bring numerous benefits.

Maintaining body temperature:

On colder days, the body needs to move to keep the temperature stable and help you to feel warm. The metabolism tends to slow down during this period so moving your body will keep you warm and will keep your metabolism elevated ensuring that you are burning more calories at rest also. Opt for aerobic activities, but if its super cold outside make sure to go to a gym where they have aerobic equipment of circuits or kettlebells which will have the greatest caloric expenditure and keep you warm.

Bikini bodies are made in the winter. 

Prepare the body for summer – you may have heard that the summer body is built in Winter and it is the purest truth. The body takes a while to adapt and for us to see the results and therefore, it is necessary to maintain constancy on the coldest days, so that when summer arrives, you are already looking and feeling your best. 

Work on intensity while it's not too hot.

The cooler weather actually favors the practice of intense activities - let's agree that training on very hot days causes some discomfort, right?! So take advantage of the colder days to intensify your workouts, knowing that you wont be overheating or getting dehydrated. 

These are some of the benefits of working on in the cold Winter months. The important thing is to keep the body moving all year round. Consistency is the key. It's not the easiest task in the world to get motivated to working in this period, however, keep your goals in mind and it will motivate you. 

Here are some tips that can also help motivate you to keep active during the colder months:

Organization - stipulate your goal for the week - achievable - and thus, it will be part of your daily tasks, that is, you need to fulfill it.

Training in company – call that excited and focused friend and combine to train together. In this way, one motivates the other and the practice becomes even more pleasurable.(photo of people running)

Set the best time – if you have the possibility to train throughout the day, when the temperatures are cooler, great. If not, train at the time you can, if it's too early or at night, remember to wear appropriate clothes.

Try new activities – challenging yourself is always great and a great motivator to not be alone under the blanket. Start a new activity, which gives you the courage to achieve new results, it helps, even emotionally. Check with a professional if the activity is recommended for you and if you play.

Hit play – put together a playlist with the songs that excite you the most and bet on them for that extra gas in your workouts. It's a success!

Sourced

https://www.aston.ac.uk/sport/news/tips/fitness-exercise/benefits-training-cold-weather

https://uoflhealth.org/articles/seven-great-benefits-to-cold-weather-workouts/